DIY Project High Performance Audio PC with high quality wiring

[ASRMichael]

15 hours ago, ray-dude said:

 

I've had tremendous results using custom made polished hardened Aluminum bowls with high precision ball bearings.  By far the biggest impact on my DAC, but very audible benefits on the server as well.  Interesting to see a commercial option.  After some experimentation, I ended up settling on a shallow bowl (5" diameter).  The Magic Spacers look like they have a much deeper bowl.

 

Looking forward to hearing your findings and following along this project!

 

100% agree. I’ve tried numerous feet over the years! Finally settled on Symposium Rollerblock, effectively two cups with Titanium balls. I believe the precision on how round the ball is, is key! 

[ASRMichael]

12 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

And it goes on 😀

 

1.11 Minimization of resonances

 

We will try different combinations of the BF Magic Spacer Z1. These parts are made of stainless steel with an accuracy of 1/100mm. The stainless steel 4 mm allen screw fits exactly into the HDPLEX 2nd Gen H5 Fanless Chassis. Balls made of black glass, rose quartz or steel can be added between the device feet Z1 and the discs S1.

 

 

All three ball variants are always supplied with a set of device feet. Fine tuning can also be done with the discs. The standard variant is the precisely fitting fis Magic Spacer S1 disc.

 

 

For reasons of sound, most customers use the larger fis Magic Disk 1 or fis Magic Disk 2. The same discs can also be used for the fis Magic Spikes.

 

 

Bit of advice, I use similar design (symposium rollerblocks). Play around with placement before you decide on final location. I’ve spent countless hours finding the best sq placement. Its really worth the time experimenting. Location varies per device. 

[ASRMichael]

@StreamFidelity where did you get the 4 cable clips from? 2 wire going out of the case. I’ve tried a few but didn’t work. Yours look like they’ll do the job perfectly. 

[ASRMichael]

When’s the JCAT ethernet XE coming out?

[ASRMichael]

11 minutes ago, adamaley said:

It'll be interesting to get a comparison between the new Jcat XE card and the Pink Faun USB + Ultra OCXO.

I have PF ultra usb. Was thinking of asking Pursuit of perfect system to compare the PF v JCAT (terry has the new card). I could review but very costly for me to buy both. 

[ASRMichael]

@StreamFidelity Hi, do you know if your MB supports ECC ram like ASrock boards? 
ASRock 

Supports ECC UDIMM memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode)
 

I can’t find anything on Asus website 

[ASRMichael]

38 minutes ago, dminches said:

 

Are there many other linear power supplies that are rated for more then 8A?  I though the Sean Jacobs builds, like the DC4, are limited to 5A.  I didn’t think that the Keces P8 was underpowered at either 19V or 12V.

 

 

Sean does a custom DC3 10a! I have one on order for my new i9 build. Also has 3 additional rails for my router/modem/sonore. Effectively everything in my chain will soon have SJ DC3 power. 

[ASRMichael]

7 minutes ago, elan120 said:

Looking forward to your experience on this power supply.  Is your i9 K or KS?

Just K! Will just set to 3.6ghz base clock. Will be running Stylus, no HQPlayer. Knowing Sean his builds are slightly over spec’d. So micro bursts will probably handle 11-12amp. Not that I fully understand this, just for discussions. 

[ASRMichael]

On 11/8/2020 at 3:37 PM, StreamFidelity said:

I became aware of Solarflare through these report:

Thanks a lot for this. At first there were unfortunately some failures. The Solarflaire Series 7000 could not be operated in the fanless audio PC. These cards just get too hot and then switch off. But what I had heard so far in terms of clarity and transparency left me with no rest. And so I ordered a brand new card from the 8000 series: XILINX Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN8522 - network adapter - PCIe 3.1 - 10 Gigabit SFP +.

 

This card has an even larger heat sink and is generally very large.

 

 

 

 

The back is also well equipped.

 

 

 

Ventilation

 

In the accompanying note it was pointed out that a fan with at least 200 rpm is required for cooling. That made me worry, of course, because there is no such thing in the fanless fis Audio PC. On the other hand, 200 rpm is very low. A 24h burn-in test has so far shown no abnormalities. Due to the principle of convection (chimney effect), warm air escapes upwards through the ventilation slots and draws cold air after it. That seems to be enough.

 

Installed it looks like this (the map on the right). The air supply is important. The left empty slot will be equipped with another card in due course. So there follows another report. 😉

 

 

 

Specifications

 

All eight PCIe lanes are used for data connection to the CPU, so a slot with a direct connection to the CPU is recommended. The latency is reportedly in the very low range of less than 1μsec.

 

According to hearsay, Solartech network cards are also used for high-frequency trading on the stock exchange. 😁

 

The product letter can be downloaded from XILINX.
 

Drivers and manuals

 

The drivers are available here. The Windows Server drivers also work perfectly in Windows 10 Pro. The manual is extensive as usual with around 300 pages. There are even recommendations for low latencies.

 

Of course there was try & error

 

- PCI Express Lane Configuration
Ensure the adapter is in an x8 slot (PCIe Gen 2.0 or PCIe Gen 3.x) or x16 slot.
Bad trap. At the beginning I got a slot with x4. Of course it didn't work.

 

- Transceiver
My previous SF transceiver module 10GBASE-LR SFP + 1310nm 10km did not work. But the Startech 1000BASE-EX SFP -SM LC-40 KM transceiver. Those are the pitfalls with fiber optics.

 

- BIOS
The Solartech card enables some settings in the BIOS. I got this when my audio PC no longer booted after being switched off and went into Power Safe mode. That's always stupid, because then I can no longer work remotely, but instead had to connect a screen with a mouse and keyboard. Deactivating the UEFI boot via Ethernet solved the problem.

 

My setup

 

 

The picture shows the calm flow of data. No nervous fidgeting like with unconfigured onboard network adapters.

 

 

Sound description

 

The sound is just addicting. A sensational speed. Flamenco or drums are a real delight. This clarity and exactness of the tones are for me the best so far that I have heard on my system. The separation of instruments is outstanding, combined with excellent spatiality. And the whole thing garnished with a beautiful flow of music without any sharpness. Despite the high resolution, voices have a nice melt and the bass is deep and precise.

What were you using previously to compare the Solar to? JCAT? Interested in a comparison. 

[ASRMichael]

9 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

The XILINX Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN8522 - network adapter - PCIe 3.1 - 10 Gigabit SFP + has such a good sound. Incredible.

 

Unfortunately, there are also downsides and that is the cooling. No problem in operation with low CPU performance. When playing DSD with the HQPlayer, the temperature increases with the CPU performance. The Solarflare card switched off regularly.

 

Closed Chassis all have a ventilation problem. Do you know Benchtables? For example something from Streacom: BC1 Open Benchtable. They were originally built for overclockers and PC testers so that components could be accessed and replaced more quickly. One of my friends has something like that and it didn't look bad. It's a bit too technical for me.

 

But I left the lid open. A 24-hour operation with very high performance finally ran smoothly. In the meantime I see it the same way as with the Turntable. Most of them have an acrylic hood so that it doesn't get too dusty. It is then opened when playing. So I will do it with the fis Audio PC. The cover is placed loosely on the housing with rubber feet as a dust protection.

 

And what's inside isn't so ugly that it can't be shown. 😄

 

 

Nice clean build as usual. Here’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask for a while, which is related to cooling of server. 
 

I have dedicated mains supply for all my gear. I have another socket which is not part of my hifi mains supply. I was considering adding some sort of fan array to blow onto my server & LPS’s. What’s your thoughts? Is there anything negative here? Like static or something else that would have an adverse affect? 
 

Fan array Mains will be isolated from hifi mains. 

Fan array won’t to mounted to any devices.

 

appreciate your & anyone else’s comments? 

[ASRMichael]

1 hour ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

With the lightsaber from Darth Vader. 😂

 

There are a few companies in Germany that specialize in this. The difficult thing is the precise design of the holes. 

Are you willing to say who they are? So the DIY community can have access as well?

[ASRMichael]

8 hours ago, StreamFidelity said:

Now my last prototype has been tested and approved. It is acrylic glass tinted in light gray, 3mm, screwable.

 

 

 

Stunningly gorgeous! Steve Jobs would be happy with that! 

[ASRMichael]

7 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

The low jitter must be why the site is so speedy...  ;-)

Even faster if you pay for premium access!!! Love black skin also! 

[ASRMichael]

@StreamFidelity Any ideas the diameter of HDPlex heat pipes? 

[ASRMichael]

On 8/21/2021 at 2:43 AM, Topk said:

What if you put 5V USB 120mm low noise fans on rubber feet, placed outside the case, powered with power bank, blowing air towards the side heatsinks of the H5 case (therefore away from the MB and all the sensitive components)?

 

 

@Topk do you think there’s negative effects by blowing air through the mobo? Until I seen your post I have been blowing air through the case, but your comment has got me rethinking what I’m doing. 

[ASRMichael]

9 minutes ago, StreamFidelity said:

Why not go straight to the latest 12th processor generation? These CPUs and Z690 motherboards are much more powerful. 

Hi any idea on sound quality difference with new Z690? Compared to Z490 & Z590?